Comments on: The Economy Sucks. So Now What? http://industrialbrand.com/blog/the-economy-sucks-so-now-what A Brand Strategy, Communication Design & Web Development Studio in Vancouver, Canada Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:12:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Ingrid http://industrialbrand.com/blog/the-economy-sucks-so-now-what/comment-page-1#comment-14574 Ingrid Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:26:47 +0000 http://industrialbrand.com/?p=3711#comment-14574 I was given the advice (by one of my teachers at Emily Carr) that unless you are in an agency large enough to have a dedicated staff member to write RFPs then forget it because it's too time consuming for small agencies and freelancers to write responses to RFPs. Your 2% success rate is probably pretty good overall compared to your competitors but it all boils down to an effort vs. return equation and I know for my situation that my teacher's advice was spot on. I was given the advice (by one of my teachers at Emily Carr) that unless you are in an agency large enough to have a dedicated staff member to write RFPs then forget it because it’s too time consuming for small agencies and freelancers to write responses to RFPs. Your 2% success rate is probably pretty good overall compared to your competitors but it all boils down to an effort vs. return equation and I know for my situation that my teacher’s advice was spot on.

]]> By: Mark Busse http://industrialbrand.com/blog/the-economy-sucks-so-now-what/comment-page-1#comment-7687 Mark Busse Fri, 29 May 2009 01:46:59 +0000 http://industrialbrand.com/?p=3711#comment-7687 Nicely done David. I was talking about this very subject with an architect friend of mine, who explained they suffer the same RFP issues as we do in their field (just with much larger fees at stake!). He said a couple very wise things today: 1) The reason RFPs are structured the way they are is to remove any real subjective judgment from the evaluative process so they don't just award a project to a firm just because their design is better! (OMG!!!) 2) When writing RFPs, you're not actually trying to win the project, you're trying to be the last to be eliminated. So apparently it's not about deserving the work at all, but about ass covering and playing the game. Awesome. Nicely done David.

I was talking about this very subject with an architect friend of mine, who explained they suffer the same RFP issues as we do in their field (just with much larger fees at stake!).

He said a couple very wise things today:
1) The reason RFPs are structured the way they are is to remove any real subjective judgment from the evaluative process so they don’t just award a project to a firm just because their design is better! (OMG!!!)
2) When writing RFPs, you’re not actually trying to win the project, you’re trying to be the last to be eliminated.

So apparently it’s not about deserving the work at all, but about ass covering and playing the game. Awesome.

]]> By: David http://industrialbrand.com/blog/the-economy-sucks-so-now-what/comment-page-1#comment-7635 David Wed, 27 May 2009 16:00:35 +0000 http://industrialbrand.com/?p=3711#comment-7635 That same frustration is what led me to create the RFPdb in the first place. My primary business is a graphic design and software development firm and we were just as frustrated by 1) poor rfps 2) expensive services to get access to them 3) learning of them the day before due... all the usual frustrations. Of course we're all frustrated; some of us by losing more RFPs than we win, some of us for spending time issuing detailed RFPs and getting back crappy boilerplate responses. Speaking to your frustrations, I've written two articles: Don't squander a great opportunity in the form of a bad RFP http://blog.confluentforms.com/2009/04/dont-squander-great-opportunity-in-form.html Not all Requests for Proposals are worth a proposal http://blog.confluentforms.com/2008/10/not-all-requests-for-proposals-are.html I hope they provide some help and I encourage you to work through your frustration and get back on that horse! That same frustration is what led me to create the RFPdb in the first place. My primary business is a graphic design and software development firm and we were just as frustrated by 1) poor rfps 2) expensive services to get access to them 3) learning of them the day before due… all the usual frustrations. Of course we’re all frustrated; some of us by losing more RFPs than we win, some of us for spending time issuing detailed RFPs and getting back crappy boilerplate responses.

Speaking to your frustrations, I’ve written two articles:
Don’t squander a great opportunity in the form of a bad RFP
http://blog.confluentforms.com/2009/04/dont-squander-great-opportunity-in-form.html
Not all Requests for Proposals are worth a proposal
http://blog.confluentforms.com/2008/10/not-all-requests-for-proposals-are.html

I hope they provide some help and I encourage you to work through your frustration and get back on that horse!

]]> By: Mark Busse http://industrialbrand.com/blog/the-economy-sucks-so-now-what/comment-page-1#comment-7632 Mark Busse Wed, 27 May 2009 15:36:29 +0000 http://industrialbrand.com/?p=3711#comment-7632 Thanks for your comment David, and for your efforts re:rfpdb.com. But I have to tell you, having recently produced solid responses to more than a dozen RFPs with a win rate of less than 2%, companies really need to rethink RFPs. Just because you cover your ass and satisfy the oversight committee by creating a bidding contest for the work does NOT mean you've selected the best creative professionals to work with. Proposals can be filled with bogus "associate" bios as though they work for your company, rhetoric about your commitment to the environment (the three Rs!), fancy language describing your design process, and even a terrific portfolio replete with wonderful case study descriptions. But if a company doesn't take the time to interview the five or ten seemingly best qualified candidates, check their client references, and actually visit the studios of their top picks to validate their claims, then they deserve the quality of work they'll receive. And a word of warning from someone rather experienced at trying to compete for work through RFPs: in this economy, the lowest price is the biggest factor. And out west, studio rates are embarrassingly low already, so those that are "buying work" by lowballing are doing nothing except hurt our industry. RFPs can be a good thing if done right, but frankly they mostly suck and need to be reconsidered entirely. For some useful guidelines about evaluating and hiring a qualified designer, <a href="http://www.gdc.net/business/request_for_proposals/articles47.php" rel="nofollow">visit GDC.net</a>. Thanks for your comment David, and for your efforts re:rfpdb.com. But I have to tell you, having recently produced solid responses to more than a dozen RFPs with a win rate of less than 2%, companies really need to rethink RFPs.

Just because you cover your ass and satisfy the oversight committee by creating a bidding contest for the work does NOT mean you’ve selected the best creative professionals to work with.

Proposals can be filled with bogus “associate” bios as though they work for your company, rhetoric about your commitment to the environment (the three Rs!), fancy language describing your design process, and even a terrific portfolio replete with wonderful case study descriptions. But if a company doesn’t take the time to interview the five or ten seemingly best qualified candidates, check their client references, and actually visit the studios of their top picks to validate their claims, then they deserve the quality of work they’ll receive.

And a word of warning from someone rather experienced at trying to compete for work through RFPs: in this economy, the lowest price is the biggest factor. And out west, studio rates are embarrassingly low already, so those that are “buying work” by lowballing are doing nothing except hurt our industry.

RFPs can be a good thing if done right, but frankly they mostly suck and need to be reconsidered entirely. For some useful guidelines about evaluating and hiring a qualified designer, visit GDC.net.

]]> By: David http://industrialbrand.com/blog/the-economy-sucks-so-now-what/comment-page-1#comment-7630 David Wed, 27 May 2009 14:34:56 +0000 http://industrialbrand.com/?p=3711#comment-7630 I created the RFP Database at http://www.rfpdb.com just so you wouldn't have to scour the web looking for RFPs to bid on, they'd end up at our site and we'd provide them to you for little or no cost. Also have a bunch of articles on our blog at http://blog.confluentforms.com about our strategies for making stronger proposals/responses to RFPs and putting your time to best use. I created the RFP Database at http://www.rfpdb.com just so you wouldn’t have to scour the web looking for RFPs to bid on, they’d end up at our site and we’d provide them to you for little or no cost. Also have a bunch of articles on our blog at http://blog.confluentforms.com about our strategies for making stronger proposals/responses to RFPs and putting your time to best use.

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